The present invention pertains to the field of fluid-operated grippers of the type comprising a body and at least two jaws that can move linearly on said body in opposite directions for an action of pressing and releasing a piece, and it specifically pertains to a system for guiding such jaws.
A system for guiding the jaws in said two-jaw grippers, comprising at least one cylindrical bolt arranged in semicylindrical, facing slots provided in one side of the jaws and in one part of the body of the gripper that are adjacent to the side of the jaws, is already known from a previous patent application of the same applicant. In this system, adjusting screws, which transversely connect the parts of the body that delimit the guide for the jaws, are provided for adjusting possible clearances between the jaws and the body of the gripper.
However, the jaws of a same gripper may also have different work tolerances and assembly clearances, and thus, they would require an adjustment independent of one another for their correct positioning. However, this adjustment is not possible since either the guide in which the jaws slide or the cylindrical bolts are continuous in their length.
On the contrary, the object of the present invention is to provide a gripper, in which the jaws can be adjusted independently and separately for their correct positioning even if they have different work tolerances and/or coupling clearances.
According to the present invention a gripper is provided with a body with a top part having at least a pair of parallel wings delimiting between them a channel, and at least two jaws that can move linearly in the channel in opposite directions and are controlled by an actuator for their action of pressing and releasing a piece. Each jaw is supported and guided in the channel with the interposition of at least one cylindrical guiding bolt arranged in the facing slots provided on one side of the jaw and on the wing portion adjacent to same. A two-jaw gripper has at least one wing on one side of the channel for guiding the jaws which is interrupted in the center to define two wing segments. Each wing segment corresponds to one jaw, in that in the slot of each of the wing segments there is provided a bolt for guiding a jaw separated from a bolt for guiding the other jaw. Each wing segment has its elasticized, and relatively flexible part, which is engaged by at least one adjusting screw for adjusting the tightening and coupling clearances between one bolt and the respective jaw independently of the other bolt with the respective jaw.
Greater details of the present invention will become more evident from the description given below with reference to the attached, indicative and nonlimiting drawings. The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.